HSG MBF/ESSEC MIF/ SSE FIN. The best choice for a NON-EU

Hi all! Thanks for reading this. I wonder which school can benefit me most in finding a job locally or in London, in terms of reputation. 
As far as I have been told, HSG may have a better reputation than ESSEC or SSE. Is that true? I mean, are they almost the same, or is HSG much better?

My goal would be to find a job with the below details: 
BB middle/back office (FO if possible) or Big 4 auditing firm (if I had no luck with BB)
In Switzerland (nearly impossible, I know) > = Germany = London > France or any other place in Europe. 

My background:
Non-EU, female, bachelor in accounting, internships in IB FO and big 4 auditing firm
Speak none of the local language (willing to learn)

The pros and cons I can think of:
HSG MBF
PROS:
1. good reputation in the DACH area
2. can stay there for up to 4 years, sufficient time for internships
CONS:
1. mission impossible of getting a work visa in Switzerland as a non-EU 
2. high living expenses
3. hard-core courses, GPA is related to your chances of getting internships

ESSEC MIF
PROS:
1. courses are easy
2. many Chinese, a proven workable choice (standard deviation is significant, though), easy to network 
CONS:
1. limited time: 1 year for study + 0.5 year for internships + 1 year visa
2. second to HEC and GE students in France

SSE FIN: (haven’t got an offer yet)
PROS:
1. English is more widely spoken compared with the other two
CONS:
1. Swedish is less used in other countries
2. high living expenses + high tuition
 

13 Comments
 

Compared with HSG and for non-EU, yes. They have raised the tuition fees by 20%, which is higher than that of ESSEC now. 31.6k euro lol

 
Most Helpful

HSG MBF Alumni so obviously a bit biased: placement in Germany/Switzerland/Austria is obviously by far the best, UK imho a bit behind SSE but mainly because many many students prefer staying in DACH and simply don't wanna go to London. If you want to, you still have all the possibilities. Stockholm is definitely more fun than St.Gallen, but Switerland has quite a lot to offer and Italy is also super close, I liked the region. Cannot comment on other universities but first semester is somewhat hard, afterwards it can get super easy with certain electives. What I also misunderstood as a bachelor student: you apply for your „main internship" (i.e. after your 2nd semester) in September/October and thus have not even started some of the courses, so it really just depends on your bachelor grade + Unis + internships. And after that internship, the next place will likely invite you due to your experience, not grades. So grading in the master is somewhat irrelevant

 

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